It was another pitch-dark and windy night.

A light, misty rain began to fall.

After dinner, Luo Xiu left as the women of the house watched him go.

A Mercedes-Benz G-Class was already parked outside the villa.

Wu Tianhua stood respectfully by the car. When he saw Luo Xiu coming out, he hurriedly opened an umbrella to greet him.

...

The Mercedes-Benz G-Class was speeding along the provincial highway leading out of the city.

Luo Xiu was sitting in the back seat, resting with his eyes closed.

Wu Tianhua, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, hummed a tune while driving, his body swaying rhythmically as if he were in a particularly good mood.

"Fake smokes, fake liquor, fake friends, fake love, fake feelings, and your fake tenderness... You lured me to your home, then in the dead of night, you kicked me out... You hollowed out my heart, and in the end, I became a total simp..."

"Old driver, give me a ride, I wanna go to Kunming..."

Sitting in the back seat, veins throbbed on Luo Xiu's forehead as he silently raged. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he lifted his leg and kicked the driver's seat.

"Can you fucking keep it down?"

Wu Tianhua laughed awkwardly. "Heh heh, General Luo, I'm just in a good mood. Okay, okay, I'll stop singing. I'll drive quietly, you get some rest."

Luo Xiu let out a sigh, lowered the car window, and looked out at the night scenery. "Has everything been arranged over there?" he asked.

"Rest assured, General Luo, Feng Zi has already made all the arrangements."

"We have their detailed transport route. The moment they get off the highway and onto the ramp, we'll hit them!"

"Heh heh, they'll never expect us to have a surprise force lying in ambush here!"

Saying this, he slapped the steering wheel hard. "All warfare is based on deception!"

Luo Xiu shot him a look. "Are we actually at war?"

Wu Tianhua scratched the back of his head. "Isn't that the truth? General Luo, believe me, for those of us who live by the knife, every single day really is like going to war."

Luo Xiu couldn't be bothered to argue with him. "Tell Feng Zi to remind the brothers that they are absolutely not to reveal their identities."

"Understood!"

Luo Xiu thought for a moment, then added, "Never mind. Let them reveal an identity, just not one from the East District. We need to pin this on the provincial capital or some other city."

"Heh heh, I get it," Wu Tianhua said.

Wu Tianhua quickly drove Luo Xiu to the toll station for the expressway leaving the city. After parking the car on the roadside, Wu Tianhua got out to meet up with Ling Feng and give instructions to the men from the East District.

Luo Xiu stayed in the car, enjoying the air conditioning and playing on his phone.

Tonight, the men from the East District had all disguised themselves as a road construction crew.

Time ticked by. Shortly after eleven o'clock at night, eight heavy trucks exited the toll station and drove onto the highway off-ramp in an orderly fashion.

At the junction of the ramp and the provincial highway, the "construction crew" from the East District was already in place.

"General Luo, we've confirmed the target. Awaiting your instructions!" Wu Tianhua's voice suddenly crackled through the walkie-talkie on the passenger seat.

Luo Xiu picked up the walkie-talkie. "Begin."

Then, Luo Xiu heard a cacophony of noises from the walkie-talkie, occasionally mixed with curses and screams of pain.

After a moment, Luo Xiu picked up the walkie-talkie again. "Hua Zi, speed it up. Tell Feng Zi to prepare for the cleanup."

"Understood, General Luo!"

...

「The next day.」

As dawn was just breaking, Tao Laosi was still fast asleep when he was woken by his ringing cell phone.

"Didn't I say not to call me in the morning unless the sky is falling?!" Tao Laosi, who was clearly a grump when woken up, snatched his phone and started cursing.

"Boss... Boss, it's bad! There's been a disaster!"

"Our medicinal herbs were all stolen last night!"

Hearing this, Tao Laosi was instantly dumbstruck. His sleepiness vanished, and the phone slowly slipped from his palm.

"Who? Who did this?!"

It took him a moment to recover before he picked up the phone again.

On the other end of the line, a subordinate reported, "During the fight last night, one of our men heard them let something slip... Based on our initial analysis, it was probably the Fly Whale Gang from the provincial capital."

"..."

After ending the call, Tao Laosi hurriedly called Xiang Laoer.

Upon hearing the news, Xiang Laoer was also enraged. He had invested all his savings into this batch of medicinal herbs!

However, these two big shots had weathered many storms and knew that getting angry now was useless. The most important thing was to figure out a way to resolve the situation.

"Laosi, who would dare to rob us?"

Tao Laosi's face was grim. "According to my intel, it's a force from the provincial capital... very likely the Fly Whale Gang."

He sighed and continued, "We control the entire supply of medicinal herbs in Henghai Province, which is bound to offend a lot of people. And my people have found out that the Fly Whale Gang from the provincial capital also owns a pharmaceutical company."

Xiang Laoer said, "If it's the Fly Whale Gang, this could get tricky."

Tao Laosi looked impatient. "Ugh, let's not worry about that for now. We'll just have to report this to our superiors later."

Xiang Laoer asked, "Then what about Lin Xiyue?"

Tao Laosi gritted his teeth. "I'll see what her attitude is later. If worst comes to worst, I'll just turn on her."

"..."

...

Lin Xiyue woke up early and dressed herself beautifully.

Luo Xiu, however, was still sprawled on the bed like a log, refusing to get up no matter what. He had gotten back so late last night, yet Lin Xiyue still hadn't let him off the hook. Now his whole body ached, completely drained, and he didn't even want to move an inch.

"I'm leaving now. I have to go wrangle with them later," Lin Xiyue said. She walked to the bedside, lifted her black-stocking-clad foot, and kicked Luo Xiu's butt.

Luo Xiu reacted instantly, grabbing her ankle. He then sat up and asked, "Are you going to be okay on your own?"

Lin Xiyue smiled faintly. "Don't worry, I've got this. Besides, I'm taking Xiao Li with me. With Miss Sun there, he wouldn't dare do anything to me."

Luo Xiu was still worried, as he knew exactly what kind of people Tao Laosi and his men were.

"If things start to look bad, contact me immediately."

"Okay."

...

「On the outskirts of Sea City, inside Tao Laosi's farmhouse.」

"Hehe, Miss Lin, Miss Sun... You're here bright and early."

"Quick, please, come in, come in!"

Tao Laosi seemed rather guilty, acting very courteous toward Lin Xiyue and Sun Li.

In the living room, Lin Xiyue gracefully smoothed her hip-hugging skirt, then sat on the sofa with her knees together and got straight to the point. "Manager Tao, we agreed that the medicinal herbs would be delivered to Shen Luo Company before eight o'clock this morning. Why haven't we heard anything yet?"

"This... well..."

Tao Laosi forced a smile, then clenched his jaw. "Actually, Miss Lin, our convoy had a bit of an accident on the road last night. The delivery might be a little late."

Lin Xiyue smiled coyly. "But this has a significant impact on our Shen Luo Company and will cause considerable losses."

"Manager Tao, according to the contract, you now need to pay us a penalty for breach of contract."

"When we signed the contract the day before yesterday, I paid a four-hundred-million deposit on the spot. The penalty is three times that, amounting to one point two billion. Furthermore, I am entitled to demand the return of that four-hundred-million deposit."

"This..."

Tao Laosi set down his teacup. The fake smile slowly faded from his face, and his eyes grew cold and menacing.

At some point, a group of men in black had quietly entered the living room, surrounding Lin Xiyue and Sun Li.

A total of one point five billion... Even as a Dragon Head of Sea City, he couldn't come up with that much money all at once. If Lin Xiyue kept pressing him, he would have no choice but to resort to a double-cross!

But Lin Xiyue acted as if the men in black didn't exist. She continued with a smile, "So, Manager Tao, are we proceeding with legal arbitration, or will you give me the money now?"

Tao Laosi picked up a fruit knife and began to carelessly peel an apple. He chuckled softly. "Miss Lin, we're both locals in Sea City. We can always talk things over. Why back someone into a corner?"

Lin Xiyue's fine brows knitted together as she put on a troubled expression. "But Manager Tao, you're really putting me in a difficult position."

Tao Laosi took a deep breath. "Alright, how about this? Tomorrow! I will absolutely have the medicinal herbs delivered to you by five o'clock tomorrow afternoon! You should head back for today!"

Lin Xiyue asked, "Are you sure?"

"I, Tao Laosi, stake my honor on it! Miss Lin, on this matter, it's not that I'm breaking my promise. Something truly unexpected happened."

"And I'll be honest with you, I still have plenty of the medicinal herbs you need in my inventory, so you don't need to worry. Since I took your money, I will definitely get the herbs to you!"

Lin Xiyue thought for a moment, then asked, "And how large is this inventory you have on hand, Manager Tao?"

Tao Laosi smiled. "The inventory is more than sufficient."

Lin Xiyue suddenly slapped the table and declared magnanimously, "I trust you as a person, Manager Tao. Otherwise, I wouldn't have sought you out in the first place."

"Manager Tao, how about this? I'll take all the inventory you have. You can deliver it all to me tomorrow. I can pay you the deposit right now!"

Hearing this, Tao Laosi's eyes shot wide open. He stared at Lin Xiyue in disbelief.

Could this woman be a fool? Her, one of the Ten Outstanding Young Women of Sea City? She's a fucking idiot!

"Miss Lin, are you serious?"

"..."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.